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I signed up for Lifestyle Fitness membership on 4th May 2016, but decided this year to cancel. I was well out of my 12 month contract, so was on a rolling monthly contract. The terms and conditions say that I need to give 1 months notice to cancel.

I sent them a letter on the 26th Feb 2018 stating I wanted to cancel. I pay my membership 1 month in advance, and paid, as per my contract on the 1st March in full. On the 8th March I received an email from them telling me they had received my cancelation request and I was to make a final payment of £60 on the 1st April (£60 is a full cost of a joint membership).

Pretty confused at this point, because my final payment covered my 30 days cancelation period as I pay in advance. I emailed them and told them that as I pay 30 days in advance, my notice period was covered by the full payment I made on 1st March, and therefore there was no more money owed. I did not receive an email back from them, so towards the end of the month cancelled the DD.

Today I have received an email telling me that they tried to collect the DD but because it had been cancelled they are charging an admin fee of £25 and I still owe them £60.

After speaking to Harlands today, and getting them to email me they have said "We received your request to cancel on the 8th March 2018. Therefore you final instalment with Lifestyle Fitness at the Louisa Centre was due on the 1st April 2018 for £60.00.

Please be advised that Lifestyle Fitness do not offer a pro-rota cancellation and will take the next payment due if you contact our offices after your initial direct debit date. For example, if you had contacted our offices before the 1st March 2018 we would of taken March!!!8217;s instalment as your final payment to cancel.

However, as we received cancellation after the payment in March 2018 the April instalment is considered to be the final collection to cancel you contract.

Meanwhile, you had cancelled the direct debit and missed this final payment on the 1st April 2018 resulting in a £25.00 administration charge. To cancel down your membership, these arrears would have to be paid"

Now I have asked my gym for a copy of their terms and conditions, and they have directed me to the Lifestyle Fitness website with their terms and conditions which do not mention ANYWHERE about having to cancel BEFORE a payment is due otherwise you owe another full payment, nor does it mention they they do not pro-rata cancelled bills, in fact the only terms and conditions are: "16. Should you wish to cancel your membership after your initial 12 payments, we require 1 months notice in writing to;" and then the address

So there are 2 things I want to know really:
Does my cancelation start from the date I sent the letter or the date they received it?
Is what they are saying legal given the only information on the terms and conditions is that you give 1 month notice, and there is no information on the other stuff Harlands have said?

I have to mortgage my house next year so don't want to risk anything on my credit file which could jeopardise that, but equally, I am not paying for something that I shouldn't be paying for, because essentially now they are being paid for 60 days notice and not 30!

To keep your credit files absolutely clean - pay them now under duress and then complain in writing.
You may get it back you may not but don't potentially mess up your remortgage because of this small amount.

What goes around - comes around
give lots and you will always receive lots

Before you read this, please note my legal training is very limited and I have no legal qualification. However, the following is what I would do in your position.

Just had a quick read of the T&Cs and they do indeed only say that a months notice is required. They don't define what they mean by a 'month' so we assume it relates to a calendar month. Neither do they say that the notice period will start from the point the cancellation letter is received. They do talk about 'the date the letter is administered' but only in relation to cancellations within the 12 month contact.

Under English Law (which governs this contract) I think it states that a contract will be complete on the date of posting. Now, this isn't quite what is happening here but the principle should still stand. You cannot be held liable for problems with the postal service or delays within their admin service. True, they cannot be held liable for delays in the postal service either but a line has to be drawn somewhere and I believe that line is drawn on the date you post your cancellation. 'Which' advice also supports the idea that it is the date you send your cancellation that is important but they also advise sending documents by recorded delivery so that you have evidence to support your position.

I imagine that you cannot prove the date you mailed the letter but neither can they disprove it. You will have dated the letter and can state whether you send it 1st or 2nd class and that should suffice. If they have kept the envelope with the stamp and postmark, that may evidence something different but we just don't know that.

FWIW, I think you should write again pointing out you allowed them a full calendar month's notice as required and that you mailed the letter 1st/2nd class on the date you wrote it and that you are therefore not liable for any further fees or charges in accordance with your understanding of the principles of English Law.

Frankly, any company that chooses to operate in a such a 'customer unfriendly' way wouldn't ever get my business and doesn't deserve yours either.

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